So you've just realized that you need an iPhone app for your business. You go on line, Google-search app developers, but you a hit a snag. You've pulled up hundreds of entries and you've got no clue as to how and who to choose. iPhone app developers and development companies indeed number by the thousands. Discretion is certainly needed to be sure that your ideas, specifications and requirements are complied with, as well as to avoid mishaps, especially when the app is already out in the market.
To that end, we wish to provide you with a few tips in order to avoid incurring these dangerous problems.
Check rates Smart buying sense would tell you that in most cases, it is important to compare rates. Just because you're sure of the quality, doesn't mean you'll jump into it straight away. Go down the list further and, you might find a cheaper service with the same quality if not even better. It's also important to find out the prevailing rates to get a clear picture. You could use this information should you get the chance to negotiate for price.
Experience and Testimonials Experience will tell you that experience is a good determinant of the quality of work that an individual or a company is capable of putting into a project. Ideally, the longer the experience, the better the results, the faster the delivery and the better they are at dealing with clients. To be safe, a lot of people do go for trusted names. However, counter-verify the experience that they claim to have by going through their portfolios. Some put up testimonials on their websites from allegedly satisfied clients. Don't take their word for it though. Contact those clients if you can. Ask for their number or e-mail address from the iPhone app developer, and if they refuse to give it to you, well, experience will also tell you that there must be something fishy.
Of course, these are true only if it is your first time to do business with that developer. If you've already established a connection with them through past deals, then there is no need to do background check on them. If they assign you a new hiree, however, you might want to ask for more information about him just to be sure.
Time Being able to deliver on time is also an important factor. This is part of being professional. If they can't keep their promise, you have a very good reason to go elsewhere next time. Try not to be too strict about mistakes, however-they are but humans too. Minor mistakes won't be hard to redeem. The important thing is that you get updated in every step of the project, that they repair the damage and still be able to finish on time (with some leeway if need be and if you approve so).
Extra Details Some other details that should be looked into include the following:
Should you decide to transfer to another developer, your app should be readily and easily understood and edited by the next guy/s. Your app should be exactly like that now so that you won't run into problems in the future.
Your developer should make your app, as much as possible, not be too heavy such that it consumes too much power. Apps that drain batteries fast could annoy users, who might then choose to stop using it (i.e. delete it). Drum it in your developers' ears if you must.
Finally the developer should also able to make your app SEO-friendly.
Alfie Ethan is a Content Manager for Techliance, he writes mostly on Web Development, gadgets and iPhone application development. Feel free to say hello on Facebook.
You have probably seen the "do not touch" signs for manatees and wondered why this would be so after hearing about places like Crystal Springs, Florida where people go to swim with the manatees. I've heard the stories too: manatees rolling over on their backs to have their bellies scratched. People saying how much the manatees seem to like it.
So what is the problem? If they like it, why shouldn't you touch manatees in the wild?
Before I explain why in detail, let me just cut to the bottom line first and say that if you do touch them, you put them at higher risk for getting injured and/or killed. You also put the whole species at risk of dying out forever.
As manatees interact with people, they lose their natural fear of people. They also lose their natural fear of things associated with people that could hurt them like boats. In other words, if you take the "wild" out of a wild creature, it loses one of its best defense mechanisms: the instinct to avoid certain situations and run away when necessary. For a manatee's protection, it is very important that it remain wild and retain its natural wild instinct.
Manatees are an endangered species. This means there are so few left in the world, they are barely hanging on by a thread. In fact, not only are their population numbers low, they are also declining at least 20% every generation! Losing just one manatee to a senseless pre-mature human caused death is a REALLY big deal at this point. It is critical that we do everything we can to protect them. Otherwise, we could lose this amazing creature forever within the next 100 years. It is a sad thought to think that your Great-Grandchildren could live in a world where there are no manatees in the wild.
Another important issue to consider is that manatees only reproduce every 3-5 years. The female stays pregnant for more than a year and manatee pups stay with their Mother for about 2 years. This means that manatees have a slow growing population under the very best of circumstances. They can't quickly replace themselves like other mammals like rodents and rabbits who reproduce far more frequently. If you take out a single manatee, it can have a huge impact on the population at this point.
Boating accidents are one of the primary ways manatees get killed and seriously injured today -- and boat traffic continues to increase across their entire range. Manatees can stay under water for 15 - 20 minutes. However, like all other marine mammals, they have to come to the surface to breath. If there is a boat in the area when they do, they can get hit by the hull or cut up by the propeller. To make matters worse, manatees are short-sighted creatures -- they see better up close than far away. If a boat is traveling fast, they may not even see it coming before it is too late. Manatees that have become accustomed to people are more likely to associate the sound of a boat motor with people and they will be more inclined to move into areas where there is high boat traffic. The number of boat related accidents with manatees has skyrocketed over the last decade.
Another issue with manatees getting too comfortable with people is that not all people are nice and it only takes one bad apple to kill or injure a manatee. If manatees become accustomed to getting their bellies scratched by people, they may expect ALL human beings to be so friendly. Unfortunately, we know that not all human beings are this friendly. In fact, there are some who would actually get some sort of sadistic pleasure out of harming a manatee. It is much safer for the manatee if they don't lose their instinct to avoid people.
It is especially important not to touch or even interact with a manatee Mother when she is with her pup. It takes two years for the Mother to teach her pup all they need to know to survive on their own. Interacting with the Mother and/or pup at this critical stage can result in the two of them getting separated. If this happens, the pup may not be ready to fend for itself and it could very well die, not to mention the negative effect it will have on the forlorn Mother.
Most people who are compelled to touch a manatee are this way because they love animals. They want to touch it because they are drawn to such a fascinating and wonderfully strange creature. They mean the manatee no harm. They just don't realize that touching the manatee could actually harm it or put it at higher risk for being killed. It is mostly for those people who I am writing this article for.
Please understand that for the manatee's sake, the best way to observe it is to keep a respectable distance. There is also a BIG advantage to you doing observing them in this way -- a big advantage that you may not have realized before. When you observe a wild animal from a respectable distance, you get to see how the animal behaves naturally! As fun as it may be to touch a manatee, it is even funner to actually get to see what it does in the wild. If you go out with an ethical eco-tour operator, they can show you how to see animals at a relatively close range but without disturbing them. This can be one of the richest most memorable experiences you'll ever have.
So, if you see a manatee while swimming or snorkeling, try to keep a respectable distance and just observe how it behaves naturally. The less you interact with it, the more acclimated it will be around you and the more natural it will behave. You will be richly rewarded for showing the animal this respect, I assure you! If you are with a group, be sure not to completely surround the manatee, even at a distance, as this will make them feel trapped.
If you are driving a boat and spot a manatee, be sure to slow way down to avoid any chance of a collision. If you are taking a guided excursion and someone else is driving the boat, if they don't slow down, point out the manatee to them and ask them nicely to slow down. Sometimes when manatees surface for air, most of their body stays below water and just their snout sticks out. In these cases, they can be tricky to see and the driver of the boat may have missed it. In this way, even if you are not driving the boat, you can really help by keeping your eyes peeled for them.
Remember that manatees are a true treasure in this world that could disappear if we aren't extremely careful about how we behave around them. Please pass this information on to anyone you know who cares about manatees and other endangered wild animals. You can help save them just by getting the right information out there.
Alexander Tilanus runs a very ethical eco-tourism company based in the Dominican Republic. His Saona Island tour is ranked #1 in the region and his other Punta Cana excursions consistently get rave reviews as well. If you're in the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana or elsewhere, his excursions are your best bet for seeing manatees.
"Re-inventing manufacturing" almost sounds like the mission statement of a Technocrat or Futurist looking to capture the utopian dream. Indeed, but why can't we? After all, Henry Ford's assembly line is a pretty old concept. Yes, certainly we have made incremental advances and yet, what about the proverbial "OMG" revolutionary innovations, and "leap-frogging" type paradigms shifts in the manufacturing sector? I guess we are still waiting for those aren't we? We don't have Star Trek assimilation machines yet, I suppose someday we will, and I hope the US is the nation to bring such dreams to fruition.
There was an interesting talk given by Regina Dugan of DARPA on December 14, 2011 for the engineering students and social studies students at MIT titled; "Just Make It" which of course is a "take-off" literally on the Nike Brand theme; Just Do It! - in this talk she mentions an aircraft manufacturing company which works without assembly lines and has been able to increase time to build from start to finish by a factor of 2. Each aircraft stays put, the folks working on it move. Okay so, that makes sense, and Rolls Royce and other high-end auto manufacturers use similar techniques, as to many of the hand-crafted high-end specialty cars.
Why was she giving this talk? Simple; we beat the German's in WWII due to our manufacturing abilities. Today, China can easily out produce us, so are we going to make the same mistake as the Germans did in WWII, in a future war with an industrial power that can out produce us? Well, are we? How can you say the answer is yes or no; you can't and that's one more reason manufacturing is so vital to US interests, on top of the importance of jobs, trade flows, and GDP growth. "A nation lives well, when it produces well," she reminds us, and quoted Adam Smith's warning about not relying on military resources to make our defense systems.
Now then, on the official "White House Blog" there was a posting back on June 24, 2011 by Erin Lindsay titled; "President Obama Launches Advanced Manufacturing Partnership." This appeared just after President Obama gave a speech at Carnegie Mellon University. Manufacturing and production are key to any advanced civilization, and we here in the US like to think we are the most advanced civilization of all.
Okay so, rather than running redline down the Six Sigma, TQM, and Finite Capacity Scheduling Model assembly line - why not really mix things up? Why not turn the three story assembly floor into a robotic Rubik's Cube factory floor, which would operate like a robotic parking structure. An AI mathematical system could keep the system at optimum, and it would allow for all sorts of possibilities? Well, why not think on that for the next five-minutes and shoot me an email if you have any ideas along this line of thinking?
The country is deeply divided. The split seems irreconcilable; the two sides are just too far apart on an ideological basis. The rhetoric is loud, increasing and hardening positions.
Barack, Divider in Chief, is fanning the flames, deepening the divide, pitting Democrats and against Republicans, the successful hard working class against the entitlement class, the young against the aging.
What can we do about the stalemate? Is it inevitable that we turn into Europe? Albeit without the charm! Are we doomed to loath and fear nearly half of our fellow countrymen?
Two Americas
Why not split the country into two? It may sound radical but why not explore the possibility of dividing the country into two distinct nations where each could manage their economic and social matters according to their beliefs.
The tensions would evaporate and the race to see what 'model' works would be on.
The liberals can have states like New York, New Jersey and California while the conservatives can claim Texas, Florida and Virginia. We could give each 'new' nation a share of sun-belt and rust belt states and split those states with unclear majorities.
Doing this would discount the growing authority of Washington and leave it to the new nations to decide whether they want more control at the local level or a growing central authority.
Conservatives trapped in liberal states and left wingers in right wing states would have a type of 'passport' for citizenship in the nation where their hearts lie but not be forced to move.
Trade and commerce between the new nations would not change and future barriers prohibited. Matters of national defense for example or other former federal responsibilities that could not be reasonably handled alone would be funded by the two new nations based upon the population count. No more unfair subsidies. Easements and rights of way would remain as they are but States within the new nations would be given back the responsibility for education, welfare, health etc.
I realize it is a delicate subject but I am stunned no one is talking about an option like this. It's revolutionary but I believe we need to look at it. It would cause a lot of dislocation and take a long period of time to assimilate but does anyone really believe the current environment we find ourselves in will resolve itself fairly and peacefully?
I would love to hear your ideas to move this debate forward.
Indeed, I find it really interesting that many of the folks who are left-leaning socialist-thinking individuals want the government to provide them with all sorts of things to make their life complete. They want free healthcare, forgiveness for student loans, a place to live, food, a good paying job, and probably a free latte from Starbucks as well twice per day. No, I'm not kidding, I know left-leaning Democrats who really believe this. In fact, not long ago I met someone from Chicago who would gotten involved with some sort of nonprofit group which almost sounds like a closet communist organization.
He had explained to me that the Internet should be free, therefore, he should have free Wi-Fi, free Internet hookup, free TV, and also a free cell phone with unlimited minutes. He told me that communication was essential, and it was the best way to level the playing field between rich and poor. Still, as he explained all this to me, and actually had me thinking about it, I realized that humans really don't need all that much to survive.
Of course, any time the government is giving stuff away, you can expect people will line up. The only problem with that is if you ever take away what you had promised, or were giving out, they will throw a tizzy fit. They will probably occupy the dark, go "skinny-dipping in the park" and have a threesome, at least according to Katy Perry's hit song; Last Friday Night.
The other day someone asked me; what they could do for me, as in what did I need? I thought that was a really interesting question, because I don't need anything, but I had helped them with a project they were working on and gave them some free consulting advice. So they wanted to know what they could do to return the favor, or what they could give to me.
"What do I need?" - Interestingly enough, I never really thought about it. As far as I'm concerned I live in the United States, the land of abundance, and I have everything I need, I don't need anything else, I've worked hard, and I've attained all the things that I need to survive, and I live well, I'm good. One could even go so far as to say that; "I am Free From Want" - but let's not forget I worked hard to get there. It wasn't given to me.
It is interesting that people want so many things that they don't actually need, it's even more fascinating that a podium pushing politician will get up and promise people stuff they want, to get their vote. But worst of all, it is somewhat scary that a politician will enact more taxes, rules, or regulations to steal from those who have worked hard to get what they need, to give to other people what they don't need, but rather want. I am alarmed by all this, as any good American should be. Please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/
Okay so, there are folks in the US that would like "to boldly go where no man has gone before" - and yes, I am one of them. It would be nice to build a giant Starship Enterprise, and send mankind out to explore the galaxy, and beyond. Of course, to build a ship the size of an aircraft carrier will require special materials, special manufacturing processes, and then it will have to have enough power to break free from Earth's gravity dwell, that is to say to reach escape velocity. Easier said than done, but perhaps we should talk about a potential solution for this.
You see, many of the materials that we would need to build such a ship do exist on Earth, but they are also on the Moon. Specifically on the back side of the moon there are apparently all sorts of rare Earth elements, and many of the things that we will need to build the hull of the spaceship; exotic metals and important materials. Plus, the gravity dwell of the Moon is only one fifth that of Earth, making it a much more viable location to put together such a project. Of course there's only one problem, we don't have a Moon base yet, manufacturing facilities, or anything of the sort.
However, we do have the technology, and if we can find the will to make it happen, and provide the funding everything should work. Can we build the main body of the spaceship robotically on the Moon, once built, it can orbit the earth, and thus, the people can go up just as we would loading-up the international space station using the space shuttle. Yes, that would be possible, and we could finish the project once we had the basics done on the Moon. Should we mine the moon to get those rare Earth elements, exotic metals, and the materials we need to make this happen?
Some say yes, and some say no, others have already set forth plans to go get it done. One of the most recent complaints that I have heard was that if we mine the moon, and we use up all the important minerals there, they cannot easily be replaced. Whereas, this is true, the benefits and the advantage of doing so sure make a lot of sense, at least as long as we don't mine the moon too much, because we need the moon to provide the tides and weather here on Earth. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/
It's a hotly-debated point at the moment, being brought up by the selling power of gadgets like the Kindle and the iPad. Should you buy an eReader, or go for a tablet PC? Which one is worth spending your money on?
What will you mainly be using it for?
To start off with, let's make one thing clear. An eReader is just what it says it is - it's for reading electronic books. It may have some other capabilities, depending on the manufacturer, like note-taking, dictionary look-ups, an MP3 player, and sometimes a very basic web browser. But at the end of the day it only has one purpose: to read electronic books.
On the other side, we have the tablet PC, which is designed to be a very portable computer. It can connect to the internet, send and receive emails, watch movies, listen to music, play plenty of games, and use thousands of apps (applications) which can allow you to do much more.
So when you're trying to decide between an eReader vs. tablet PC, you need to remember that they have different markets. The eReader is made for bookworms - people who read a great deal and love to read. It's designed to make the reading as natural and simple as it can be using "e-Ink" - the nearest you'll come to "real" ink and paper on any digital device. On the other hand, the tablet isn't as comfy to read with, using its more computer-like display screen - but it can perform a lot more functions, and display color illustrations.
What's your budget?
In the war of the eReader vs tablet PC, the eReader certainly beats the tablet PC on price. eReaders are much much less expensive than the vast majority of tablets. OK, you can get a tablet for the price of an eReader - but it will be a low-end option which runs a lot more slowly and has less impressive features overall. You certainly won't get anything alike to the iPad for anything less than $500, which is a big wad of cash if you're not really sure whether you need one!
On the other hand, an eReader can easily be found for under $100 even for the best models. They are very simple to use and the battery can last for weeks (as opposed to 10 hours on a tablet.) This simplicity and battery life is down to the fact that they only have one functions.
Perhaps in the end it revolves around one simple question: "How much do you like reading, and how much are you planning to do?" I you are a real hardcore bookworm, and you're planning to read every day, then you should definitely consider an eReader - the reading experience is far superior than using a tablet screen.
However, if you'd rather have a device with the flexibility to do many other things as well, then the tablet has to win the eReader vs tablet PC debate!
TabletPCReviewer.com brings you tablet PC comparison guides, reviews, and articles all about the world of tablet PC computing.
Have you ever experienced how powerful creating a vision of your goals in life can be? No? I must admit until fairly recently neither had I. When I qualified as a Personal Coach I knew I wanted to help people who were unsatisfied with an area of their lives but I have to admit that other then a desire to help people I wasn't really clear on much else.
I had spent much of my life going through school and various fairly unsatisfactory jobs feeling that I was almost incidental to the process of life. I didn't feel I particularly mattered in my job roles and they for their part failed to inspire me.For years I thought that was how everyone lived. The trade off was that I spent 45 hours a week doing something dull in an office so I could pay a mortgage to live in a tiny house that cost me a fortune and which I didn't particularly like either. When I was made redundant for the 4th time in my life I began to question a lot of things and realised that since childhood I had simply followed a process in terms of education and employment but had never really thought about what I wanted.I had never really tried to create my own process but rather followed a well trodden path that was constructed and formed by other peoples expectations and the imprint of what they had done.
After reading about vision -boards I decided to train as a Vision Board Counsellor and as part of our training we have had to create our own vision board which is basically a little like creating a collage or scrap booking to create a visual representation of the things you want to focus on having more of in your life. I really enjoyed the process and now my vision board is as important to me as my business plan is for my business. Here are 5 reasons why you should create a vision board:
1) A visionboard helps you define your goals - When you are creating your board you will be attracted to some images and phrases and not to others because something will resonate with you. You may not be aware at the time but there will be good reasons why you are attracted to the things you choose to put on your board.
2) It helps you figure out why you want them - Creating and using your vision board really helps you get in touch with the true reasons you want the things you want so that you are really aligned with your true values.
3) It motivates you - Seeing the things you want to bring into your life each day really focuses your energies on going after them. Keep your vision board somewhere you can see it easily to maximise its effectiveness.
4) It helps you affirm your goals- Each time you look at your board it reminds you of why you are doing what you are doing.
5) It will help you to take positive powerful action towards you goals because every time you look at it you will be reminded of whats really important to you and want to move towards it.
Where is the hope and change that President Barack Obama promised America during his Presidential Campaign in 2008? It is true that he inherited a flailing economy and two wars, but he was elected on a message that he could turn things around, bring Americans together, and steer our country back to prosperity. It has been almost three years since the 2008 election and the American economy is growing at an anemic rate of 1.2%, unemployment is at 9.1%, and the housing market has seen a record number of foreclosures due to people being out of work. What started out as a message of hope has turned into a reality of despair and uncertainty. It is evident that there is a leadership deficit in the White House as Barack Obama continues to blame the Bush Administration and world-wide events for his failures instead of looking at his own policies and ideology. Is the office of President of the United States too big for one person as many experts have argued, or do we just have the wrong person doing the job?
There is a man running for President in 2012 that has the ability, the attitude, and the aptitude to lead our country to greatness once again, and that man is Herman Cain. Since entering the race, Cain has brought an energy and charisma that many of his Republican competitors lack. His candidness, articulate message, and a talent for debating have captured the imagination of conservative and Tea Party voters alike. Enough so, that he has been in either first or second place in several national and straw polls, and is considered a top tier candidate. The centerpiece of his campaign is his nine-nine-nine plan which stands for a 9% personal income tax, a 9% corporate tax, and a 9% national sales tax. Herman Cain's nine-nine-nine plan also gets rid of all tax loopholes and almost all tax deduction in an attempt to get the government out of the business of picking winners and losers. Although his plan may not be perfect in the eyes of some, it's a good place to start and has also been a great way for Herman Cain to market his candidacy.
What distinguishes Herman Cain from Barack Obama most is his pedigree in both academia and the private sector. Cain graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Morehouse College and has a Masters degree in computer science from Perdue. He worked for the U.S. Navy as a civilian ballistics analyst before entering the private sector. Herman Cain was a regional director for Burger King turning his region from the least profitable to the most profitable in three years. He then took the reins of Godfather's Pizza, turning an enterprise that was all but dead into a profitable company. Having come from a poor background, Herman Cain learned what it is to live the American Dream and, unlike Barack Obama, understands that it is the private sector and entrepreneurs, not government, that drive the American economy.
The only similarity between Herman Cain and Barack Obama is that message of hope, but Herman Cain has the plan and ideology to make prosperity real again. His pro growth solution is a refreshing change from the same old class warfare rhetoric that puts one American against another. It's time to get government out of the way and let the risk takers and job makers get the American economy back on track. Herman Cain will be a President that can do just that.
Once you go through all of the work and decisions surrounding the development of a mobile phone app, another looming question quickly presents itself: how do I respond to users' comments?
You could spend countless hours reviewing, analyzing, and trying to figure out ways to address each review with your next update, but is it worth it? Do you need to address every single comment that is made about your app? Yes and no...take a look at these tips to ease the process.
Review all of the comments. Your audience is talking directly to you so listen! Some will be very straight forward and outline exactly what they would like to see while others may be more ambiguous. If it is a simple, "I love this app!" smile and move on. If it is, "I love this app because..." take notes; analyze what they are saying. What features do they love? What do they feel is missing? What do they not care for? Learn from criticism. Rather than approaching sub-par reviews as negative, look at them as room for improvement. If you have several comments on one aspect of your app you can consider that in your next update. Often times the negative comments will be regarding bugs, so... Fix known bugs. You should obviously test the app thoroughly before launching, but it is almost imminent that there will be bugs. It is crucial to the sustainability of your app for you to fix the bugs in a timely manner so your app performs as intended. Gauge how often you should release a bug fix on how crucial the bug is to the performance of the app and the comments of the users. Embrace their ideas. As you review the comments, put them in to this context, "If you want me to continue to use this app, you should...(user comment)". Of course you should not attempt to be all things to all people or you will end up being overwhelmed and frustrated. But, if you want your app to last, embrace the ideas that will improve your app and better fit your users' needs.
The best apps out there are actively responding to user feedback on a continual basis, through upgrades and feature enhancements, and in their communications. Be sure that your app users know that you're committed to building an app that they're thrilled to use, and they'll be thrilled to share their excitement about your app with others.
Kristi Daeda is an online marketing strategist who works with companies around the country to define and execute powerful online marketing plans. You can read more of her thoughts on mobile marketing as featured on the BolderImage Mobile App Development website.
To converse and comment about a particular topic which we hardly come across is always dangerous. We should have sufficient knowledge or evidence before commenting on things, especially if our comment is going to be a decisive factor. I would like to illustrate the ill effects of such comments. If we ask anyone their view on a subject they are most willing to share things they know, but many a times they comment based on what they had heard or found out from others. It may or may not be right, but we are risking the credibility of the particular subject. To elaborate this in detail I would like to exemplify about a company against which some people have annotated online without knowing actual facts. The company I am discussing is Pancard Clubs Ltd. I choose this company because of my personal experience with the company.
I planned to invest some amount in their investment scheme, but before investing I thought of having some expert advice. I researched about the company online and found many comments and quote which defame the company as fraud & cheats. The moment I saw the comment I decided not to invest any amount in this company. After six months I happened to meet my ex-colleague. We had a good conversation about the market and the effects of the budget on the market. The one point which he said caught my instant attention. He told about enjoying his holidays at a very nominal cost. When inquired he said that he had invested in Pancard Club Investment Scheme. The moment I heard the company's name, I recollected the time when I was supposed to invest in this scheme. I articulated all the things I encountered when I was willing to invest. He was amused to hear this. The only reply he gave was "No one endorses a good thing, but everyone advertises about negative things." This conversation bought a change in my observation. The decision which I took six months ago about not investing in the firm was because I read negative comments about the company. The comments might not be true, but my decision was based on it. I didn't make any effort to investigate about the comment.
Since then I made sure I will make a decision based on my research and investigation. I decided to investigate about the Pancard Clubs Investment Scheme again. I researched online and found some comments posted by some unsatisfied member. I checked the details and found the complaints genuine. I thought why some would post a negative comment about the company, unless the company has not fulfilled their promises. I was under the impression that no one will publish any negative remark about the company unless the company defaults on certain terms. This was my reaction before I came across a comment to the post published by a member. The comment mentioned that the member should read the terms & conditions about the scheme before investing. The comment included copy-pasted content of the Investment Scheme terms & condition documents which directly contradict the member's complaint. What affected me was I took my decision on a post which was not genuine. Although I am not regretting about the lost opportunity, but I rue about the trust I put on the confutative comment posted by a member.
Such instances made me realize that it's always better to draw any conclusion after proper analysis. Now, I consider others point of view and take decisions only after researching about it. Everyone has the right to post their grievances, but they should also try posting good things they experience. All this will surely help companies to deal with all the incorrect allegations posted against them.
Last week the nation tuned into President's Obama's much hyped job creation speech to see if there would be any worthy ideas to try and break the constant high unemployment rate int he country. Would he be bold and innovative or would it be the same basic, tired political tactics that have been tried and have usually failed to live up to expectations?
The following discussion will compare what the President should have said and what he actually said. Unfortunately, the bottom line is that from a boldness, innovation, and courage perspective, the President came up well short of the goal line.
1) Infrastructure
As expected, the President did state that he wanted money and funding for infrastructure jobs to fix roads, bridges, dams, schools, etc. that were in need of repair, something many Americans expected and were supportive of. However, the President's proposal came up short in two areas.
First, infrastructure spending and work done via the economic stimulus bill was woefully inefficient. According to various Associated Press investigations, thousands and thousands of government contracts were granted without competitive bidding. Half of the bridges that were repaired under the stimulus program were not in need of repairs. Powerful individual politicians in Congress snatched their share of the stimulus money and directed it to their voters regardless of whether of not the spending was actually fixing a real problem.
Millions of dollars from the stimulus plan were granted to companies that owed hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes. No where in the President's jobs speech do we get firm assurances that these atrocities have been recognized and will not happen again. He states that the money will be properly spent but we were promised that in the economic stimulus bill. The only way to insure that this potential pot of money is well spent is to give the decision on what projects are done to the states via a block grant of money, taking Congress out of the decision process altogether.
Second, the President does not show any detail on how to pay for this increment Federal spending. He says he will unveil a plan within a week or so. Thus, his performance on this topic is an incomplete. He gave no indication of specifics like reducing the Federal payroll back to 2008 levels, terminating unwanted and unneeded military projects such as the Osprey, terminating corporate welfare programs, ending agriculture subsidies, and directing high speed rail line funding to shorter term infrastructure needs.
Grade: Incomplete given the unnamed ways to fund this infrastructure spending that will be forth coming. However, worries about whether this will be another waste of money spent on things that do not need to be fixed, given the economic stimulus program, and the fact that the President has not taken Congress out of the decision making loop, continue to exist.
2) Obama Care
According to many credible opinion polls, the majority of Americans realize that Obama Care is an unfolding disaster. It will screw up existing health care insurance for tens of millions of Americans that already have coverage, it will significantly add to the deficit, it has created a large amount of tax and business uncertainty into the employment crisis in this country, and will not address the root causes of our escalating health care costs. Nowhere in his speech did he address this problem.
The President did make reference to the fact that we need to somehow reduce Medicare and Medicaid costs going forward in order to protect the long term solvency of both programs. He wisely wants to phase in any changes over time to ease the transition. However, he gave no indication of how he thinks we should do this, he gave no indication he has a plan to do this, and gave indication when this would be done.
Overall grade - D-. Obama Care is one of the biggest drags on the economy and unemployment today and he ignored it. The only reason he did not get an F here is that he may finally be realizing the need to reform Medicare and Medicaid, even if he does not have a plan on how to do that.
3) Tax Holiday For Overseas Profits
Some economists suggested that the President should announce that there should be a one time tax holiday for American companies that have stashed billions of dollars of their profits overseas because it is cheaper to leave those earning overseas than to bring them back to the country and get hit with a 35% tax hit. This tax holiday should be a one time deal that would be followed up immediately with a dedicated overhaul of the tax system.
The reasoning is that it would be better to have that corporate cash sloshing around in the United States than sitting off in some foreign banks even if it was not taxed. The short term problem is jobs, not taxing overseas profits. However, in order to not train companies to wait for the next tax holiday, this would be a one time deal followed immediately by comprehensive tax reform. The President did not address this opportunity to get dollars flowing back into the country and economy.
Overall grade - F
4) Regulation - many businesses have suggested that the President terminate all Federal regulations that do not impact the health and safety of our citizens or the environment and he agreed with this in his speech. He addressed this issue, claiming that his administration had identified over 500 regulatory reforms that will free up billions of dollars over the next few years.
However, he provided no specifics or big deals such as termination of the unneeded and cumbersome Sarbannes-Oxley legislation. The President's case would have been stronger if he had provided some concrete examples of what his administration has already done to ease the regulation overload.
He also did not address the overtly oppressive Federal government interference into individual business operations, specifically the overbearing and likely politically motivated harassment of Boeing and Gibson Guitars. This unnecessary type of government interference diverts companies' resources from business and job expansion.
Overall grade - B-. This could change if he does not follow through with the promises he made.
5) Energy
He made no reference at all to using the energy industry, and using oil and gas company resources, to expand our internal energy capacity and development. Since the country does not have an overall, longer term strategic energy plan and policy, fossil fuels will still be the major component of our energy mix for a long time.
Given that fact, it makes sense to not keep sending our wealth overseas to other energy providers when we could develop our own energy resources, again, using oil company money, not taxpayer money. Ending any Gulf drilling moratoriums, building the Canadian crude oil pipeline, opening up drilling in the Arctic, etc. would create good, long term, needed jobs in our domestic energy industry.
Coupling that with a major initiative to develop alternative energy sources and an overarching energy strategy would cover both our long term and short term energy needs while creating a ton of jobs. The President missed this opportunity completely.
Overall grade - F
6) Education
As a country, we need a number of short term and long term changes in the nation's approach to education and its impact on jobs. First, given that the Federal government has dozens of independent organizations that provide severely fragmented job training services, these dozens of job training entities should be consolidated into a single, more efficient and more effective Federal job training organization, placed in the Health and Human Services Department.
This single organization would be a one stop shopping for citizens looking for training support and be a conduit between job seekers and those hiring. It would be more efficient than having the dozens of organizations that we currently have.
Long term, need an initiative that would identify the root causes of our failing public schools and put together a comprehensive plan for fixing our education processes so that we stop under educating our kids relative to the rest of the world. A similar plan was laid out under the Reagan administration in 1983 but the American political class ignored those findings. As a result, our kids are not being educated as well as kids in dozens of other countries around the world.
Unfortunately, the President completely missed the needs in this category also. He made two references to education in his speech. First, he wants money to fix up 35,000 schools across the country. Second, he wants money to hire more teachers. However, if the country does not fix our failed public education processes, if we do not adopt curriculums to the current, fast paced world, if we do not improve teacher training and evaluation, etc., all the President's plans will do is have us continue to under educate our kids. Only now we will under educate them with more of the same kind of teachers in nicer buildings.
This is a typical solution from the political class. It is based on their inability to understand root causes of problems Having a nicer school building will not make for a better educated work force. Hiring the same types of teachers will not improve the learning process. We need fundamental changes to education to compete in the world economy.
None of the President's plans address this more serious problem. He just wants to hire some painters and electricians to make things look nice. The basic product, bad education results, will not change and will not positively affect job creation.
Overall grade - F
7) Taxes
Many assumed the President would ask for an extension of the tax changes made last fall, i.e. the extension of the Bush tax cuts be extended for two years in order to introduce some more certainty into the tax planning of individuals and companies. From his speech it looks like he wants to extend it for another year. Not bad, but two years would have been better and provided the economy with more certainty.
In addition, the President asked for more tax changes, especially for small business. These include providing tax credits for newly hired employees and forgoing the payroll tax for a year to give businesses more cash. However, while these are positive steps, they are open for abuse (e.g. what would stop a business from firing all of its employees on Friday, hiring them back on Monday and claiming the tax credits ) and will further deplete the dwindling Social Security funding.
Their effectiveness is also worthy of doubting. Many economists have looked at similar tax programs in the past and found that unless there is a clear path to an improving economy and improving sales, a business will not likely take on new employees and assume that risk if there are still all types of uncertainty in the mix (e.g. next year's elections, Obama Care, over regulation, etc.)
The other tax area the President touched on his is unhealthy fixation with taxing the rich. The numbers prove that while taxing the rich more might be a healthy political move for some voters, the financial impact on the economy, government tax levels, and the national debt is extremely small. The President made some embarrassingly incorrect statements regarding taxing the rich in his speech that are worth reviewing:
"Warren Buffet pays a lower tax rate than his secretary." Likely a true statement since Buffet probably draws a smaller salary than his secretary. However, the President never brings up that fact that Buffet does not pay himself millions of dollars every year in salary, getting his money via legally approved other ways that minimize his tax burden. To not mention this fact is deceptive at best, a lie at worst.
"I (Obama) believe that the vast majority of wealthy Americans and CEOs are willing to do just that (pay more in taxes) if it helps grow the economy." A number of problems with this tired, cliched statement. First, the President never cites a source or research that supports this statement. He states it as fact but no data supporting its truth is ever presented.
Second, if these people are so anxious to pay more in taxes, why don't they? The U.S. Treasury Department has had a program for many years that easily allows Americans to pay more than they owe in taxes to pay down the national debt. If these people were willing to pay more, there is nothing stopping them from doing so. The fact that this program gets very little money donated to it every year reinforces the doubt that the President's statement is right.
Third, if they do want to pay more in taxes, why didn't the President challenge them to contribute to the infrastructure program he is proposing? We could name bridges and streets and dams after them as as a side benefit.
Finally, the President implies that if only these people paid more in taxes, the economy would grow significantly. Certainly not a true statement if you examine the numbers. Another Obama statement bordering on deception.
The bottom line is we need a much simplified and much fairer tax code. A tax code where the rich pay their fair share and those Americans that use the income tax process as a money maker, i.e. 45% of Americans pay no Federal income taxes, also pay their fair share. However, beyond general statements about reforming the tax code, the President's provided no details, plans, or timetable on how to do that.
Which is a shame since such a plan would remove a large amount of uncertainty and wasted economic time complying with our complex tax code. This would have freed up money, time, resources, and energies to expand our economy and hire new workers.
Overall grade - D-
8) National Debt - many organizations, including the President's own debt reduction commission, have identified many ways to take trillions and trillions of wasted dollars out of our national debt. The President at least gave lip service to this need and claims to have an aggressive plan ready within the week. We shall see.
Grade - Incomplete
9) Unemployment Benefits
Many economists suggested that the President start finding a way to get out of the unemployment benefit business since every major study conducted in this area, including one done by the new head of his economic advisor team, says that providing long term unemployment benefits contributes to chronic long term unemployment The President stated in his speech that he wants to extend long term unemployment benefits, the exact opposite of what all economic studies say is wise.
Overall grade - F, based on the results of the studies cited above, the fact that as we keep extending benefits, unemployment gets stronger, and the fact that there are jobs out there. Just go to Craigslist, Snag A Job's website or other employment websites and search for all jobs in a zip code and see the hundreds or thousands of vacant jobs that come back.
Jobs are out there, they may not be great jobs, they may not be in someone's field but here has to be a creative way of melding unemployment benefits with the existing vacant job piles around the country so that everyone wins. In the President's speech, status quo wins and that is a failure.
10) Trade treaties.
The President was expected to press for the passage of trade treaties that have already been negotiated and he did.
Overall grade - A
Overall, across all components, this speech gets no better than a D minus in boldness, originality, in-depth understanding of our root causes to our problems, and needed specifics on how to move forward. His tax ideas are standard and very tactical, with histories of varying degrees of success. His call for tax reform was hollow. His ignoring of the devastating effects of Obama Care on hiring and uncertainty is unforgivable.
His strategy for paying for this increased spending is vague and yet to be unveiled or to be determined. His removal of unnecessary regulations was tepid at best. He missed big strategic opportunities to free up uncertainty in the private sector by ignoring the wastefulness of Sarbannes-Oxley, failing to address the opportunities in the domestic energy field, and fixing our short term and long term education process. He missed a big time opportunity to declare a one time tax holiday to get off shore corporate earnings back into our economy and linking that to overall tax reform.
If these are such great ideas, which they are not, why haven't we moved on them previously? Could it be that we have and the results has been a steady dose of 9% unemployment? There was not a creative, ingenious, or bold idea in the lot.
His speech reinforces the belief that the President is like most other politicians, they do not know how to think strategically. All of their thought processes and plans are usually very short term and tactical, rarely addressing the underlying problems. Cash For Clunkers. Cash For Caulkers. One time rebate for first time home buyers. A scattering of small business tax credits but no overall tax reform that encourages business growth. Fix up the schools and make them look pretty without long term education reform. All failed concepts, all short term, doomed tactics.
Besides not being strategic. the plans set out by the President do not remove the major road blocks of uncertainty in the economy and marketplace:
- Short term, gimmicky tax adjustments with unknown future implications and changes.
- A complex and unwieldy tax code.
- High national debt.
- High taxes at every level of government.
- Over regulation.
- Obama Care.
Until the political class fixes these problems, unemployment will still stay high and businesses will continue with their conservative "deer in the headlights" planning.
Walter "Bruno" Korschek is the author of the book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class," which is available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com/ and online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Our daily dialog on freedom in America can be joined at http://www.loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/.
WASHINGTON -- Delaware's defeated Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell says she believes the outcome of her race would have been different if Republicans had united after her upset primary win.
O'Donnell said Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that the "lesson to be learned is to unite." She said there was too much infighting after she beat establishment favorite Rep. Mike Castle in the GOP primary.
O'Donnell says that she doesn't take Tuesday's loss to Democrat Chris Coons personally. Coons won the Senate seat with 57 percent to O'Donnell's 40 percent.
O'Donnell said Republicans in states such as Kentucky united after primaries. Kentucky's tea party-backed Republican Rand Paul won his U.S. Senate race Tuesday after upsetting the GOP establishment candidate in the primaries.
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